1
as in hopeless
not capable of being cured or reformed
an irretrievable drug addict who had wasted a once-promising life
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in irreparable
not capable of being repaired, regained, or undone
this is just an irretrievable mess, so let's start all over again
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of irretrievable
No fault did not require blame allowing a divorce if one spouse claimed irreconcilable differences or irretrievable breakdown against the other.
—
Patricia Fersch, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
Lawmakers warn that evidence critical to future war crimes investigations may be irretrievable.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
And there was data that was lost, that was irretrievable.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 2 Jan. 2025
Lawmakers warn that evidence critical to future war crimes investigations may be irretrievable.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irretrievable
Patricia Fersch, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
Lawmakers warn that evidence critical to future war crimes investigations may be irretrievable.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
And there was data that was lost, that was irretrievable.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 2 Jan. 2025
Lawmakers warn that evidence critical to future war crimes investigations may be irretrievable.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irretrievable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irretrievable
Adjective
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Measures included depression using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D), blood tests for 76 inflammatory biomarkers, and symptoms broken down into cognitive-affective (e.g., feeling hopeless), somatic (e.g., poor sleep, fatigue), and anhedonia (loss of pleasure) clusters.—
Paul McClure
August 09,
New Atlas,
9 Aug. 2025
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Amid the callous acts and hopeless rage of these kids—who are resourceful enough to orchestrate a high-speed heist but too disaffected for much else—a supernatural eeriness surfaces through word of mysterious lights in the sky and missing citizens.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The sport of off-roading suffers from a fundamental discordance: The desire to get out into nature and the irreparable harm inherent in the process of off-roading.—
Tim Stevens,
ArsTechnica,
25 July 2025
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On June 30, however, Nevada Circuit Court Judge Carolyn Ellsworth denied the TRO request, ruling that the petitioners had not demonstrated immediate and irreparable injury, without addressing the merits of the broader dispute.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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Jamie later explains to Anna that he has been diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of cancer — the same one that his brother, Eddie, died from.—
Caroline Blair,
People.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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With Securities and Exchange Commission filings saying Ellison will become CEO after the merger, that would trigger an incurable provision in the current co-CEOs’ contracts.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
24 July 2025
Adjective
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Noa converts all inputs, visual and audio, into secure, irreversible mathematical representations.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
4 Aug. 2025
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But Riyadh has been firm that this cannot happen without an irreversible path to a Palestinian state.—
Nic Robertson,
CNN Money,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Broadly speaking, this is probably not irrecoverable damage to the ecosystem.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
19 July 2025
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Aviation experts have said a preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) raised questions over whether one of the pilots of Air India flight 171 cut off fuel to the Boeing 787's engines seconds after takeoff, leading to an irrecoverable situation.—
Dan Catchpole,
USA Today,
18 July 2025
Adjective
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Minutes later, the list reached an unrecoverable 45 degrees; the ship slowly and silently sank, its starboard side resting on the river bottom.—
Michael Peregrine,
Chicago Tribune,
24 July 2025
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First, the private key can be lost and unrecoverable.—
Alexander S. Blume,
Forbes.com,
8 July 2025
Adjective
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Additionally, the court found that after considering several factors, the government failed to prove that Abrego Garcia poses an irremediable danger to the community.—
Greg Wehner , Bill Mears,
FOXNews.com,
23 June 2025
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Despite the incident, The Animal Haven reaffirmed its no-kill shelter status, and clarified that euthanasia in cases of irremediable canine aggression is in line with the Best Friends Animal Society's definition of no-kill.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
Newsweek,
13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Having to spend three hours being poked and prodded and prevented from making phone calls rankled; Diamandis is an incorrigible multitasker.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
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Who was this alien observer, whose gaze made me into a (slightly) better person, whose gaze (slightly) reduced my incorrigible self-centeredness?—
Michael W. Clune,
Harpers Magazine,
16 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Irretrievable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irretrievable. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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